Clara Wilberforce, born on February 23, 1923, in Lexington, Nebraska, passed away on January 13, 2019. Clara was born to Peter Pappas and Athena Theophilopoulos Pappas and was one of nine children. Clara served in the Navy in the WAVES, The Women Accepted for
Volunteer Emergency Service from 1944 to 1946. After receiving a BA degree in Journalism in 1950, she joined the Foreign Service with the Department of State. She served in the Public Affairs Offices in Libya, Germany, India, Israel and Nigeria before being posted to Nairobi, Kenya in 1959. It was in Kenya where she met Edward Wilberforce. Clara and Eddie were married in Kampala, Uganda, in 1963. After working in Botswana, England and Malawi, they retired to Eddie’s native England where Clara lived until his death in 1993. She returned to Lincoln in 1996. Clara is predeceased by her parents, husband, Eddie, brothers, Bill, George, Chris and Harry Pappas and sisters Mary, Eugenia, Rola Pappas Hamm, and Jennie Pappas Phillips. She is survived by her two step-daughters, Ann Wilberforce Abbott and husband, Steve, England, and Joan Wilberforce, Australia. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service is scheduled at 10:00 AM, Thursday, January 17, 2019 at Southlake Village, 9401 Andermatt Dr., Lincoln, Nebraska.
Memorials in Clara’s name may be made to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, P.O. Box 420560, Washington, DC 20042.
